About the Journal
Journal Name
Nirantara is a Sanskrit term meaning “uninterrupted” or “continuous.” The name reflects the journal's commitment to sustained engagement between academia and society, research that does not end with publication, but continues to generate real and lasting impact on social life.
Focus
Nirantara: Journal of Research and Community Engagement is an international scholarly journal focused on research into the continuity of community engagement: scholarship that traces how social impact is built, sustained, and carried forward over time, rather than ending with a single publication cycle or intervention.
The journal integrates diverse fields, including the social sciences, economics, humanities, education, law, culture, religion, science and technology, health, and environmental studies, with emphasis on how cross-disciplinary collaboration produces engagement models that are durable and transferable to other contexts.
While rooted in the Indonesian context as a primary site of inquiry, Nirantara opens space for cross-country comparison and dialogue on how community-based initiatives endure, adapt, and grow beyond the lifespan of a project or its initial funding. The journal particularly values contributions that demonstrate context-sensitive, participatory, and sustainable approaches, emphasizing the co-creation of knowledge between academics and communities.
Scope
Nirantara publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed articles that bridge theory, research, and practice in the field of community engagement, with emphasis on the continuity and durability of impact. The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:
1. Sustained and Longitudinal Community Engagement. Research documenting community engagement across time, including multi-year partnerships, follow-up studies, and longitudinal evaluations of Participatory Action Research (PAR), Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), community-based research, and service-learning programs.
2. From Intervention to Institutionalization. Studies on how community-based programs, policies, or innovations that began as projects or pilots transition into institutionally embedded practice, community-owned management, or public policy adoption.
3. Impact-Oriented and Resilience-Building Community Development. Studies addressing social, economic, cultural, legal, religious, environmental, health, and technological challenges, with emphasis on resilience and the durability of impact rather than short-term outcomes alone.
4. Interdisciplinary and Cross-Sectoral Approaches to Continuity. Scholarship integrating multiple disciplines and sectors: academia, government, civil society, and the private sector, to design mechanisms that sustain community engagement initiatives.
5. Methodological and Reflective Contributions. Empirical, theoretical, and reflective studies — qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods, particularly those advancing methods for measuring, monitoring, or evaluating the continuity and long-term impact of community engagement.
Nirantara does not accept one-off activity reports lacking clear methods, data analysis, and reflection on the continuity or sustainability of their impact.
Publication Frequency
Nirantara: Journal of Research and Community Engagement is published twice yearly and accepts papers in English.
Publication Ethics
Nirantara: Journal of Research and Community Engagement refers to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The COPE website provides details of guidelines and international standards.
Plagiarism
Before going through the review process and publishing, all manuscripts will be checked that they are free from plagiarism by using Turnitin. If there are indications of plagiarism of more than 50%, the manuscript will instantly be rejected. If there is an indication of plagiarism between 30% - 50%, we will send the manuscript back to the author to be revised for the plagiarised content below 30%.
Peer Review
Review Policy
The editorial staff reads all submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts that editors evaluate as inappropriate to journal criteria are promptly rejected without external review. Manuscripts considered potentially interesting to our readership are sent to double-blind reviewers. Based on the reviewer’s recommendation, the editors then decide whether to reject, require major revision, need minor revision, or accept them.
The Editor-in-Chief has the right to decide which manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published.
Review Process
All articles submitted to Nirantara: Journal of Research and Community Engagement will be reviewed using the blind review method. Reviewers need to be made aware of the authors' identity, and authors are also unaware of the identity of reviewers (double-blind review method). Generally, each article will be reviewed by one to two people.
The response of the reviewers will be the basis for the Editor to conclude
1. Revisions Required
2. Accept Submission
3. Decline Submission
An article was rejected for publication due to various considerations, including:
1. The article does not fit the scope
2. The article does not follow the rules of writing scientific papers / does not follow the author's guidelines
3. The fundamental methodological errors
4. The author refuses to make suggestions for improvements provided by the reviewer without a logical basis.
5. There are indications of plagiarism of more than 30%
Standard Review Process
Reviewers must enter the journal website to agree to do the review, download submissions, submit their comments, and select a recommendation.
Reviewer Options
- Review Time
The typical time allowed is four weeks for reviews
Note: This can be modified during the editorial process.
- Reviewer Access
Reviewers will only have access to the submission file after agreeing to review it.
- Reviewer Guidelines
The Reviewer Guidelines will provide reviewers with criteria for judging a submission's suitability for publication in the journal. They can include any special instructions for preparing an effective and helpful review. Reviewers are presented with two open text boxes in the review, the first for author and editor and the second for the editor. Alternatively, the Journal Manager can create a peer review form under Review Forms. In all cases, editors will have the option of including the reviews in correspondence with the author.
Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global knowledge exchange.
Privacy Statement
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal. They will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
